DHS Border Protection Video Citing Isaiah 6:8 Sparks Cries of ‘Blasphemy’

Several people said the DHS is misinterpreting the passage. “Since you like Isaiah, here’s chapter 16:3-5,” someone wrote to the governmental department:

Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer. The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land. In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it—one from the house[a] of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Another person told the DHS, “You might want to read a few verses before and after any reference you use. This isn’t about devastation in a foreign land, this is talking about Isaiah’s homeland… Isaiah 6:8-12 (LSB).”

“The Greek word (χενος/xenos) is the root of the English words xenophobia,” wrote someone else. “If you are afraid of immigrants and do not welcome them, you are afraid of Christ and refuse to welcome him.”

Ed Stetzer: Isaiah Passage Is About a Call to the ‘Mission of God’

Pastor Zach Lambert, author of “Better Ways to Read the Bible,” said Americans need to “STOP weaponizing the Bible.” He posted, in part:

Using Bible verses to justify violence against immigrants is not only the opposite of what Jesus teaches, it’s also a direct contradiction to the passage cited in this video. “Here am I, send me” was the prophet Isaiah’s response after being called by God to deliver a message to the people and their leaders. What was the message? “Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.” Isaiah 1:23

Lambert also cited Isaiah 10:1-3, writing, “God is sending Isaiah to warn the people, and more specifically their leaders, that if they do not turn from their corrupt ways and begin caring for the most vulnerable among them, they will suffer God’s judgment.” He added, “Isaiah answers that call by saying, ‘Here am I, send me.’ For a corrupt government to use these verses to justify the very marginalization and oppression being condemned in this passage is the height of blasphemy.”

Controversy over the use of this Bible verse isn’t new. Defense secretaries for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both referenced Isaiah 6:8 in connection with the military.